The Mail on Sunday

Now it’s Gove versus Rishi!

Cabinet heavyweigh­ts square up to see who will be Boris’s heir

- By Glen Owen and Brendan Carlin

THE next General Election might be more than four years off and Boris Johnson has dismissed claims he could stand down next year due to ill health – but that has not stopped Tory MPs from engaging in their favourite pastime – leadership speculatio­n.

And the consensus is, when the time comes, it is likely to be the ‘ experience and i ntellect’ of Michael Gove versus the ‘charm and charisma’ of youthful rising star Rishi Sunak.

The chattering about how long Mr Johnson plans to serve in No 10 increased last week after The Times reported that the father- in- law of Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister’s most powerful adviser, had told one of its readers that Mr Johnson would stand down in six months because of the continuing effects of his coronaviru­s infection.

The scenario is rejected by MPs as highly unlikely, but many think Mr Johnson might step down in 2023 to give his successor time to settle in to No 10 before the 2024 election.

Friends of Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office Minister, say they expect him to run for the party leadership then, despite the formidable threat posed by Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

Mr Sunak has seen his public ratings soar during the coronaviru­s crisis – above Mr Johnson’s – due to successes such as his Eat Out To Help Out scheme. The Chancellor is also building a powerful government-in-exile at the Treasury. But Mr Gove also has a strong Whitehall network, having seeded a string of former aides into powerful positions across government – ‘most of them called Henry’, in the words of one observer.

Both men are also jostling for prime position as the effective ‘chief executive’ of the administra­tion, with Mr Johnson as ‘chairman of the board’.

While Mr Sunak, 40, has the machinery of the Treasury at his disposal, Mr Gove, 53, sits on a series of powerful Cabinet committees and is central to the key preparatio­ns for Brexit.

The speculatio­n has been fanned by mounting backbench dissatisfa­ction over repeated Government U-turns, with Tory backbenche­rs using WhatsApp groups to vent their anger. The

Mail on Sunday spoke yesterday to several Tory MPs who expect the Prime Minister to stand down before the next Election.

One said: ‘No one could blame Boris for not wanting to fight another General Election after what he’s been through with Covid and the virus crisis. I also don’t think he would want to cling on to the job. He’ll want to get Brexit done, see the virus crisis safely sorted out and ensure the economy’s back on track.’

Another said: ‘He wanted to be PM and he wanted to have been PM – but does he actually like doing the job?’

One ally of the Chancellor went further to insist that Mr Sunak had to be the next leader. The MP said: ‘Rishi stands out as the best choice to succeed Boris. He’s performed superbly in the face of the pandemic when many other Ministers have been found wanting.

‘Having our first ethnic minority Prime Minister would be massive for the party and for the country.’

However, one former Cabinet Minister cautioned that Mr Sunak, who only became Chancellor in February, was potentiall­y at the height of his popularity.

He said: ‘We may well be at peak Rishi now. He’s got all the plaudits for the virus furlough schemes and responding to the crisis decisively.

‘But who knows where we’ll be when the furlough ends and unemployme­nt really starts to climb in the winter.’

‘Johnson wanted to be PM – but does he like the job?’

 ??  ?? COVID HERO: Rishi Sunak’s ratings have soared during the pandemic
COVID HERO: Rishi Sunak’s ratings have soared during the pandemic
 ??  ?? BREXIT CHIEF: And Michael Gove has former aides in powerful positions
BREXIT CHIEF: And Michael Gove has former aides in powerful positions

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